


Again

by yritea



Category: NCT (Band), NCT U - Fandom, We Go Up - NCT Dream (Music Video)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Best Friends, Cliche, Complicated Relationships, Falling In Love, Fights, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Lies, Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Slice of Life, Teenage Drama, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:15:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yritea/pseuds/yritea
Summary: A year ago, Hyuck would never have imagined Mark sitting at their table. Never. Mark and Hyuck had been part of the same friends group since freshman, Mark having been introduced to the rest of the boys by Renjun. The second Mark and Hyuck's eyes locked, the latter knew they were going to be best friends. There was just something in Mark that Hyuck couldn't quite perceive in anyone else, something that he didn't even know he was missing before finding it in Mark. And he believed Mark saw it in him, too. Just like that, the two boys became glued to each other and thinking about it, two years of friendship felt like eternity to Hyuck, probably because of this very feeling that he had been knowing Mark his whole life.So why did it feel like Mark was a stranger, now ?
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> hi! trying another little something hope you'll like it  
> what's in italics are either Hyuck's memories or inner thoughts, I'll be mixing both memories and real time narration hope it's not confusing and gives more dynamism and background (and maybe understanding) to the story  
> enjoy!

_Mark Lee._

"Wait," Renjun whispered, "Is that really him ?"

_Mark fucking Lee._

"Yeah," Chenle replied, titling his head a bit so he could take a good look at the boy seated a few rows below them, "No doubt."

_How dare he._

"But, jeez," Jisung said, eyes wide, "Didn't remember him being this... _hot_. I mean, look at his arms. "

Renjun tear his eyes off the boy then looked at Hyuck sitting next to him. His eyes were boring holes at the back of Mark Lee's freshly dyed head.

"Didn't remember him hanging with those assholes either." Chenle grimaced before taking a curious look at an unusually silent Hyuck.

The principal's speech was as boring as every year, if not even more this year since Hyuck wasn't cracking any stupid joke or making fun of the student body president for being a total ass-kisser. Which was weird, actually, because it was the four friends' senior year, and they were supposed to do _exactly_ _that_ , as they promised each other over the summer, and every summer before when they would talk about their last year of high school.

_"Let's make a promise or something,"_ Hyuck had said, _"That our last year of high school will be our best year ever."_

So why was he looking like he was about to kill someone right now ?

"Hyuck," Renjun started tentatively, "Just say something. You look like you're about to implode."

Now Hyuck's three friends were eyeing him carefully, worry clear in their eyes as they knew at Hyuck's red, tense face, that he was close, so close to lose it.

"And as a great author said, whose name I don't remember but it's not important," The principal said in his microphone from where he was standing in the middle of the gym, "A good speech has a beginning, a middle and an end, the best example being ''I love you''."

"What–"

Whispers and laughter emerged among the students, and Renjun face-palmed, sighing.

"Fuck," Jisung whispered while shaking his head, "M. Oh apparently didn't stop smoking pot over the summer."

The principal cleared his throat to gain back the audience's attention. "I love my students, I love you ! Have a great year ! Dismissed."

Hyuck wasn't told twice. As soon as the principal was done talking, he threw his backpack on his shoulder before going down the steps two by two. Renjun, Jisung and Chenle exchanged panicked looks before chasing after their friend.

"Hyuck," Renjun called, bumping into students' shoulders and ignoring their protests, "Wait !"

He managed to reach his friend and when he did, he put a hand on his shoulder which made the other boy turn around abruptly.

"What." Hyuck let out coldly, his eyebrows so furrowed it made a crease between them, and his eyes holding so much rage Renjun was surprised they were not flaming already.

"Let's talk–"

"NO !" Hyuck yelled out and it startled Renjun so much he retracted the hand he had on his friend's shoulder.

Jisung and Chenle arrived at this moment, and their eyes were as wide as everyone's eyes who witnessed Hyuck's outburst. A few kids around them murmured, some trying to be discreet by looking at the band by the corner of their eyes, some others not so discreet, openly stopping on their way out of the gym and making comments.

"Hyuck..." Chenle tried, not missing to throw nasty looks at those nosy kids.

"Fuck, guys, honestly," Hyuck added, lower this time but annoyance still strained his voice, "What is there to talk about ? Mark came back and he didn't tell you ? Well, he didn't tell me either, that makes four of us. So what now ?"

"We didn't mean to annoy you," Renjun said, frowning, "We were just surprised, that's all."

"Oh so you were surprised ?" Hyuck scoffed incredulously, his voice rising again. "So we're gonna talk about him the whole _fucking_ year ? Because it's so surprising he came back ?"

It was Renjun's turn to lash out his frustration, the boy using the hand he put on Hyuck's shoulder earlier to push his friend's chest, not too hard but enough to make him take a step back.

"Now you're being an asshole, Hyuck." Renjun said through gritted teeth, and now the tension was so palpable between the two friends that Jisung and Chenle got closer just in case they would have to separate them at some point. It would not be the first time Hyuck and Renjun get into a fight, and certainly not the last one.

Hyuck let out an unamused chuckle, letting his head fall back. "Oh _I'm_ the asshole ? I– You–" Groaning in frustration, Hyuck brought a hand up to ruffle his already messy hair. "You know what ? Okay, fine. I don't give a fuck about any of this anyway. Goodbye."

And with that, Hyuck stomped out of the gym, leaving his friends behind. They sighed in unison, already feeling that their last year of high school was probably going to be a lot of things, but surely a tiring one.

_Hyuck felt sad, kind of. Well, he felt super sad, but he wasn't going to admit that. No way in hell would he admit being sad over something as meaningless as his best friend avoiding him for the past week. For no reason. Or at least for no reason Hyuck knew of._

_His head hanging low in misery, his eyes fixed on his feet, Hyuck turned right at the corner of the hallway, and at this moment his forehead came in contact with an equally hard surface, drawing a pained moan from him._

_"What the– Oh," Hyuck stopped mid-sentence when he realised the thing he just hit his forehead on was no other than Mark's chest. He greeted his best friend awkardly. "Hi, Mark. Hey."_

_"Hey." Mark replied, his voice void of any emotion._

_"Funny how we just bumped into each other like this because I was just thinking about you and–"_

_"Let's not talk now, Hyuck, alright ?" Mark cut him, his eyes weirdly detached. "I have something to do."_

_Without even waiting for a reply on Hyuck's side nor sparing a glance at him, Mark turned on his heels and started walking away. Hyuck's brain shut down for a second or so, and when he came back to his senses, he managed to catch up to Mark, jogging behind him and catching his wrist, forcing him to turn back._

_"Mark," He started, hoping that his tone was light despite the lump that had formed in his throat the second he felt Mark's cold skin under his sweaty palm. "You pass me in the hallway without saying a word to me lately... Why are you so distant ?" Mark's gaze was now on Hyuck and the latter felt so weird, having all of Mark's attention to himself at that moment when he didn't even had a fraction of it in the past few days. He couldn't stop his voice from trembling a little. "Did I do something wrong ?"_

_Mark stayed motionless for what seemed like an eternity to Hyuck, unmoving cold eyes trained on his face, even though they looked so empty that he wasn't even sure Mark was really looking at him. Those eyes moved eventually, lowering on Hyuck's hand wrapped around Mark's arm, then making their way back on Hyuck's shaking lips. Hyuck bit them, trying to stop them from shaking so much. Then Mark opened his mouth, and Hyuck's heart jumped in his ribcage in anticipation._

_"Look I–"_

_"Hey, Mark !"_

_A voice coming from behind Hyuck interrupted Mark, and Hyuck could only notice how his best friend's expression switched from pure indiferrence to a seemingly wide, happy smile. It seemed like all strenght left Hyuck's body because the hand holding Mark's wrist dropped to his side, and Mark barely acknowledged that. He only took it as a cue to go away from his best friend._

_"Hey dude, how's it going ?"_

_"Good, good. You coming to practice tonight, right ? Gotta work on this new tactic coach came up with."_

_"Yeah, sure." Mark said before Hyuck could hear him call his name._

_He turned around and greeted Mark's teammate weakly, managing to smile a little._

_"Gotta go," Mark smiled to him, and it just looked so fake Hyuck wanted to throw up right then and there, "See you."_

_"Yeah," Just speaking made Hyuck's throat hurt, now, and he didn't even understand why it was his throat that hurt so much when he felt like his heart was the most broken, "See you, Mark."_

Walking in the hallway, his eyes fixed on his dirty sneakers, Hyuck thought, amongst all of the many thoughts clouding his mind, that it was time to change them. Or at least wash them, because they weren't even white anymore at this point, they were more like beige, or even brown from certain angles.

Hyuck groaned. Was his last year of high school supposed to be that frustrating ?

He made his way through the crowded, noisy hallway and headed to the cafeteria, his head hanging low and his shoulders slumped.

"Smiiiiile," Renjun sing-songed in Hyuck right ear, appearing out of nowhere, "Just looking at your face makes me wanna cry. And it's Tuesday, dude, the first fucking Tuesday of our fucking senior year."

"Yeah, well, sorry if I'm not always hyper like you are," Hyuck sighed, rolling his eyes, "But, unlike you, I happen to hate school _and_ have a super hard life right now."

"Hum, first of all," Chenle appeared on Hyuck's left side, pointing at his own haircut, "You were not forced by your mother to style your hair like this this morning so, no, your life is not hard. It's just below the average."

Renjun laughed at Chenle's light green hair, which was parted down in the middle like a model student, when Chenle was exactly the contrary of a model student. That made it even funnier in Renjun's opinion.

The three friends made their way through the cafeteria, talking animatedly as they stood in line, waiting for their food. Once they'd been served, they went to the small table they usually sat at since freshman year. There was some kind of tacit agreement among students that the tables more or less ''belonged'' to certain groups of friends. The small square one near the exit of the cafeteria ? It was Hyuck, Renjun, Chenle and Jisung's one. Period.

As Renjun and Hyuck were still making fun of Chenle's terrible haircut, the last member of the small group sat down at the table.

"Hey guys, what's so funny ?" Jisung asked. "Are we talking about how Hyuck made a huge scene at the gym yesterday ?"

Silence feel upon the table as both Renjun and Hyuck's laughters faded down. A wide-eyed Chenle murmured a low "fucking hell" under his breath.

"Ha," Jisung said sheepishly, scratching his nape, "Too soon ?"

Hyuck let out a sigh as guilt made him munch on his lower lip. He was about to blurt out a serie of apologies for having completely overreacted the day before but his thoughts were totally cut off when his eyes fell on the cafeteria entrance.

"What the fuck, guys." He said, his mouth hanging open. He couldn't believe his eyes.

His friends threw him a curious look then followed his gaze, Renjun and Chenle having to turn around to actually see what was going on.

"Oh, my God," Renjun said, as disbelieving as Hyuck, "Is this a fucking joke ?"

"It has to be, right ?" Chenle asked.

The four boys were watching with incredulous eyes as Mark Lee was walking with the self-called ''cafeteria crowd'', that is the most popular kids in the school. Among them were Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno, Im Yerim, and some others.

"Isn't Mark Lee like, super hot ?"

Hyuck heard one of the girls seated on the table next to theirs say before her friends giggled. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. It was kind of funny to him how the whole school was making a fuss about Mark as if he was the new kid that everyone had to talk about when actually he wasn't even new. He was just back. And for some reason it just pissed Hyuck off. But what pissed him off even more was that Mark did seem to belong to the cafeteria crowd as he sat very close to Yerim, bumping shoulders and laughing with her. His dark hair falling onto his small eyebrows and his pretty eyes no longer hidden by his glasses, Mark blended in so well with all those good-looking kids.

A year ago, Hyuck would never have imagined Mark sitting at their table. Never. Mark and Hyuck had been part of the same friends group since freshman, Mark having been introduced to the rest of the boys by Renjun. The second Mark and Hyuck's eyes locked, the latter knew they were going to be best friends. There was just something in Mark that Hyuck couldn't quite perceive in anyone else, something that he didn't even know he was missing before finding it in Mark. And he believed Mark saw it in him, too. Just like that, the two boys became- according to Chenle -glued to each other and thinking about it, two years of friendship felt like eternity to Hyuck, probably because of this very feeling that he had been knowing Mark his whole life. So why did it feel like Mark was a stranger, now ?

_"...I'm not really into her."_ Mark had said once about Yerim as Hyuck and him were chilling on his bed.

_"Well, she's definitely into you."_

_"Yeah, whatever," Mark rolled his eyes and it made Hyuck let out a light laugh, "I just wish she wasn't all over me like that..."_

_"Why don't you tell her ?" Hyuck asked as he rolled on the bed and ended up shoulder to shoulder with Mark, the two of them laying on their backs. "It's always better to tell the truth so at least you're not, I don't know, leading her on or anything."_

_Mark's eyes darted to Hyuck's face then back to his phone screen._

_"The truth ?" He asked, and Hyuck hummed in response, his eyes closed. Mark chuckled slightly, watching his bestfriend's peaceful face from the corner of his eyes. "I'm not gonna tell her you're the one I wanna spend all my time with rather than her and her stupid friends, am I ?"_

Lost in his thoughts, Hyuck didn't have time to look away from Mark when the latter's gaze slid across the cafeteria and landed on him. He froze, and Mark's lips curled into a small smile as his friends were chattering beside him. Unable to tear his eyes off his (former) best friend, Hyuck could only think about how Mark smiling to him looked like freshman-Mark right now despite everything that changed, and it made him remember all the looks, all the words, all the smiles they shared, and most of all, it made his heart beat so fast that he tought it might explode.

_Holy shit._


	2. two

"Well, open it."

Lucas pressed after throwing one last insistent look in Hyuck's direction before focusing back on the road in front of him. His deep voice echoed in Hyuck's ears although he didn’t really process what the taller just said, his hands frozen on the small object wrapped in yellow and orange paper. The postman delivered it this morning just as Hyuck was about to head out for school. 'For Donghyuck' was written on the small card that came with the gift, and Hyuck's stomach dropped when he recognized the neat handwriting. He immediately threw the gift at the very bottom of his backpack, the weight of the misplaced attention pressing on his shoulders the whole day. What monopolised his thoughts wasn't exactly the curiosity of knowing what was hiding behind the hideous paper; what he couldn't quite wrap his mind around was the reason why his father would care to send him anything when he didn't even care enough to text him more than once in a while, let alone call him or see him.

"… Don't wanna." Hyuck finally said, his voice coming out tighter than he would've liked.

"Why ?" Lucas asked, confusion so clear in his voice it gave away how unfathomable it was for him to refuse a gift from your dad, someone who supposedly cares about you and whom you supposedly care about. "It's a gift."

"I didn't ask for it."

"Which means it's a spontaneous gift," Lucas stopped at a red light and he put his right hand on Hyuck's thigh out of habit, letting it lay there until the light turns green, "Which means he thought of you out of the blue. I'm sure he thinks about you a lot, actually. It's good."

Hyuck mocked the taller's questionable logic. "Oh, so because it's a gift then it's automatically good ?"

"Yes," Lucas replied matter-of-factly, shrugging, "I mean not its content, necessarily. But the intention, yes."

Eyeing the object so intently, Hyuck felt like he could actually see through the paper. He imagined tearing it up but finding nothing inside, at least nothing worth giving anyone, like a void disguised in some kind of dull affection his father sometimes cared to show him. It was all a show, an empty shell, like an ironical reflection of himself.

"Yeah, right."

"Listen," Lucas started, stealing a quick glance to the redhead, and the tone he just used made Hyuck roll his eyes before he even continued his sentence, "I'm not taking anyone's side here but at least your dad's trying, right ? I'm sure you can blame him for a lot of things but not for trying to make it right."

Hyuck scoffed, facing away from Lucas, his eyes fixed on the outside through the tinted window. "I can't believe we're having this ridiculous conversation."

"Ridiculous ?" The taller repeated, quite amused, enough to let out a small, breathy laugh. "We're just _talking_ , Hyuck."

Lucas pulled over on a parking lot, stopping between two cars and turning off the engine. He set his huge, dark yet clear eyes on the other. They were holding so much candor Hyuck had to look away eventually, unable to keep looking Lucas in the eye or else the taller would see through him. Lucas was an undeniably handsome boy and his eyes weren't the first thing Hyuck noticed when he first met him but they definitely became his favorite now. They were scary in a way, too brutally honest but so pleasingly intense. Hyuck loved being on the receiving end of Lucas' gaze, and the special attention the boy seemed to pay him was what led the redhead to go ahead and kiss him at a party back in junior year. Hyuck developed a great affection for the boy, but ever since the kiss it had never been anything more than playing around between them, the redhead making extra efforts to stay out of any kind of unwated intimacy.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," Hyuck started as he opened the passenger door, stepping out of the car, "But last time I checked talking isn't exactly the reason why you and I hang out."

Then he slammed the door behind him.

_Hyuck slammed his bedroom door then leaned his back flush against it. He sighed deeply, his closed eyelids preventing hot tears from falling down his reddened cheeks._

_"Fuck," He murmured, banging the back of his head against the hard surface a couple times, "Fuck, fuck."_

_He could almost hear Mark squirm in his seat at the end of his unmade bed, and it made him even more frustrated._

_"God, I'm so sorry..."_

_Hyuck's voice cracked on the last word that left his dry lips. When he opened his eyes, he found Mark's wide ones already on him, the worried look on his face making Hyuck's heart clench with shame in his chest._

_"...You know you can talk to me, right ?" Mark said softly after what felt like an endless silence._

_Hyuck couldn't bring himself to look any longer at Mark's face so he kept his eyes fixed on the floor. He heard his bed creak before he saw Mark's socked feet approaching him, and he fought the urge to close his eyes again as his vision got blurrier and blurrier every passing second. How he wished the ground would swallow him whole so he wouldn't have to face this whole situation. How pathetic was it that he, a 16-year-old guy, couldn't even hold back his tears. He never had a hard time hiding his feelings from his mother and his stepfather, so how come he was so weak when it came to Mark ?_

_His head still hanging low, Hyuck sniffled then wiped his wet eyes aggressively when he saw droplets falling onto the floor. The hand Mark slid into his hair was gentle, and it somehow made Hyuck cry even harder, his shoulders shaking._

_"Oh, Hyuck," Mark murmured as he ran his fingers through Hyuck's bleached hair before he stuck a rebellious strand behind his hear, "You also know you don't have to talk if you don't want to."_

I want to talk to you, Mark, _Hyuck thought._ More than anyone I want to talk to you.

_As a matter of fact, Mark was the only person Hyuck wanted to talk to when something was wrong. Usually, Hyuck's worry over being a burden for his best friend – who he assumed had more important things to worry about than his stupid family problems – was enough for him to keep to himself. This time though, Hyuck's shell cracked the second Mark's voice echoed in the room, and the latter comforting him felt like rays of light shining through, warm embrace around his heart._

_Hyuck managed to calm down eventually thanks to Mark's soothing hand in his hair. He let out a trembling breath which felt like all energy left his body. Mark probably felt Hyuck's body relax under his palm because he eventually retreated his hand and let it drop to his side._

_"I guess," Mark said, clearing his throat and breaking the silence, "I should go, right ? I'll just, y'know, leave you alone so you can get some air, spend some alone ti–"_

_"Mark please," Hyuck cut Mark mid-sentence. He finally raised his head and met Mark's confused eyes. Catching his trembling lip between his teeth, Hyuck focused really hard on his voice and on swallowing the sob that threatened to come out any second. "Don't leave, please. You're the only one keeping me sane right now."_

Hyuck snapped out his thoughts when the coffee machine beeped twice, signaling that the dark, hot beverage was ready. He added a bit of hazelnut milk into the cup then covered the surface with whipped cream before he walked back to the counter, handing the drink to a customer. Hyuck smiled out if politeness, thanking them for coming, smiling also to himself as he realized how he missed this job, missed the warm, sweet scent of this place. He'd been working in this popular café downtown all summer long and he stopped when the beginning of the school year came around. However, Taeil, the boss of the café, called him earlier that day, begging him to take the evening shift to replace some girl that bailed on him at the last moment. Hyuck had no reason to refuse, first of all because he wasn't going to say no to some extra money, plus it was also his way of showing his gratitude towards Taeil, some kind of payback for having made Hyuck's Mark-less summer a little less shitty than it could've been by simply being a good friend to him.

Hyuck realised he found some kind of solace in speaking about his best friend to Taeil rather than his usual group of friends, and Hyuck wondered if it had to do with his boss' maturity or the fact that he had an outside look on the situation. The guy did call Mark an asshole when Hyuck told him how he left without saying anything, how he slowly turned away from Hyuck before completely disappearing – Hyuck still felt stupid for not having picked up the signs that Mark was slipping through his fingers, although he did realise how distant his best friend was being the last few weeks before he was gone – but Taeil also helped him see the bigger picture by assuring him that Mark leaving his life so suddenly was for the better in the end, because a _true_ _friend_ doesn't do what he did.

Hyuck couldn't help but wonder if Mark ever considered him as a friend in the first place, if their two years of friendship had meant anything to him at all. Because to Hyuck, it meant everything.

"Hello, welcome to Dashi Café," He said without really paying attention to the new customer coming up to the counter. Busy taking a refill of carton straws under the cash register, he added, "What can I get you ?"

When he got no answer, he raised his head and his breath got stuck in his throat at the sight in front of him. Before his eyes was no other than Mark Lee, standing there looking as dumbstruck as him, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted.

"Uh..." The older opened his mouth then closed it as he probably realized he did not know what to say. Not anymore, not after finding himself in front of Hyuck. 

Hyuck blinked once or twice, releasing a heavy breath he didn't even realized he was holding. It had been several months he hadn't seen Mark from that close, and while having him right in front of him put him in quite a daze at first, it also fired up some kind of anger in him, so sharp and strong that it forced him out of his stupor.

"Are you just gonna stare or did you want something ?" Hyuck asked eventually as Mark remained silent. He did realize how rude it came out and how easy it was for him to hide the misery weighing down on him since Mark's departure by a nasty veil of rancor and resentment.

Something flashed in Mark's eyes, something Hyuck didn't manage to decipher because that was how Mark was sometimes, unreadable. Then Mark chuckled lightly, lowering his head as if he was just laughing to himself before setting his eyes back on Hyuck.

"I can't seem to remember what I wanted to order," The smile on Mark's lips was small and sheepish, "Just get me whatever you'd like, please."

Hyuck wanted to roll his eyes but complied anyways, because he was keen on staying professional in any situation but also because he had an idea in mind. Turning his back to Mark to prepare his drink, he felt the other's gaze on his back and that made him all tense and uneasy. A small smile crept on his lips though as he poured the cold coffee into the cup. He added a few ice cubs then went back to the counter, putting the drink onto it.

"And here's your iced Americano." Hyuck finally said in a honeyed voice, a fake smile plastered on his face.

Mark's hand froze around the cup and he looked at Hyuck again, surprise clear on his features.

Mark had always hated Americanos, let alone iced ones. And Hyuck knew it, of course. What was there about Mark that Hyuck didn't know ?


End file.
